Joy (arr. Leo Eguchi) | Margaret Bonds (1913—1972)

String Quartet No.2, Op.18 No.2 | Ludwig van Beethoven (1770—1827)

I. Allegro

II. Adagio cantabile

III. Scherzo. Allegro

IV. Allegro molto, quasi Presto

String Quartet No. 15 in E-flat minor, Op. 144 | Dmitri Shostakovich (1906—1975)

I. Elegy: Adagio

II. Serenade: Adagio

III. Intermezzo: Adagio

IV. Nocturne: Adagio

V. Funeral march: Adagio molto

VI. Epilogue: Adagio

The dedication of Beethoven’s first set of string quartets bears a single name: that of the commissioner, Prince Joseph Franz von Lobkowitz. However, they might as well have been dedicated to Mozart and Haydn for the wealth of musical tributes to these older masters contained in this opus. The G-major quartet we present in this pairing is considered the most Haydenesque of the bunch and in fact acquired the nickname Komplimentier-Quartett due to the elaborate and graceful curve of its melodies and the elegance of writing. While clearly paying generous tribute to the older masters, in this quartet Beethoven already displays his signature style and champions the thematic connection between movements he’ll return to decades later when writing one of his last string quartets, op.131.

While Beethoven drew inspiration from the music of his mentor when writing his early quartets, Shostakovich did the opposite with his final one. His string quartet No.15 is the last quartet he completed and is inspired by a quartet by his student Boris Tchaikovsky, particularly borrowing the model of only slow movements. While Shostakovich’s original plan was to create 24 quartets covering all major and minor keys, by the time he finished this one, it became clear to him that he’d never live to complete the ambitious undertaking. Much of it was written in a hospital room, where Shostakovich convalesced in the spring of 1974, undoubtedly absorbed by reflections on mortality, which dominated his music in his latter years. In this otherworldly cycle of five slow movements, the angst of his earlier compositions makes only a few brief cameos. Instead, the work is dominated by transparency and enlightenment—a fragile beauty laced with silent terror that seems to float suspended in midair.

Margaret Bonds was one of the first African-American composers to gain wide recognition in the U.S. Her brief and uplifting composition Joy, arranged for string quartet by our own Leo Eguchi, ushers us into this journey. 

~ Alexander Vavilov